The Coach Trip was a ‘read now’ offer from NetGalley. At first, I thought I’d made a mistake in accepting it and it was just silly chick-lit. Then I found half an hour had whizzed by while I was reading it and decided it couldn’t be that bad. Scatty Emma double books herself for a coach tour with her recently widowed Grandma and a weekend away with best friend and flatmate Mel. They decide to combine the trips and join a party of old people on a coach tour of northern cathedrals and castles. Really, what are these young women like? They’re in their late twenties yet totally prejudiced against the ‘old people’ (apart from Grandma) and so ignorant, they don’t even know that the country didn’t always use decimal currency.

Old people, they find, are rude, fussy and miserable. As the tour continues, they have a complete change of heart, finding (gosh!) that old people may have had interesting lives and are perhaps miserable because of tragedies and the annoying decrepitude that comes before they’re ready for it. So, the girls learn some life lessons as well as some interesting facts about old buildings.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and Izzy Bromley for this ARC, which I really enjoyed.

Chaotic mess Em has screwed up a Valentine's day suprise planned for best friend Mel by her boyfriend. To make it up to Mel, Em promises an unforgettable weekend in Edinburgh...only trouble is that Em has double-booked herself as she's already promised to accompany her grandmother on the epic-sounding 'Odyssey of the North'. She lures Mel into coming on the tour with her with the promise of hot guys on the coach. What they actually encounter is a motley group of seventy-somethings. Em and Mel resent the pensioners for their fussiness and lack of speed; the coach-trippers think young people are all 'selfish' and 'irresponsible'. What follows is a trip in which barriers break down, friendships are formed, and some lives change for the better.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book, but I found it a little slow to start and wasn't really invested until the tour kicked off in earnest. The characters were unique and vividly drawn, from self-effacing Cynthia, to bewildered Arthur, to the snobbish Vivienne and Ron (“We don't usually go on coach trips...we've always thought they were for poor people, or people with no imagination”).The way in which the characters gradually start to let their barriers down and to appreciate each other feels realistic, and I liked the warmth that develops in the relationships between Em and Mel and the retirees. It also felt accurate that the trip would result in changes and realisations for some of the characters, while leaving others unchanged.

The only drawback I could see is that the portrayal of people in their seventies as fussy, slow and indecisive doesn't really match the pensioners I know (who are all pretty dynamic and know what they want). I know that this is partly because Em is seeing them from a blinkered perspective at the start, and she does grow to appreciate them, but it still felt like the author was depicting characters who are much older than these characters are supposed to be. That's a fairly minor point though and overall, The Coach Trip is an engaging and warm novel. I will definitely be looking out for more of Izzy Bromley's work.

This is such a heartwarming, feel good, funny story.

Emma and Mel are best friends who are planning a trip to Edinburgh to celebrate Mel’s birthday. Emma’s grandparents have a coach trip planned to celebrate their wedding anniversary but her Grandpa dies before the trip. Emma and Mel accompany Grandma on the coach trip so that she can scatter Grandpa’s ashes along the way. The passengers are all elderly and are wonderful, quirky characters.

There were moments when I got annoyed with Mel and found her to be disrespectful, this meant that Emma focused more on Mel’s happiness than her Grandma’s as she wanted to keep the peace. I wish Emma had a bit more backbone and stood up to Mel. I understand why Mel was this way, it shows the prejudices elderly people can face and how they are often so incorrect. This book teaches the importance of not underestimating older people, they may have a few tricks up their sleeves! There are really funny moments but also terribly sad too. It is such a heartwarming read. I read this in a day and found myself smiling throughout. I absolutely loved it.

Well, a quick read, written in the first person with a narrator who was a little annoying, (but not as annoying as her best friend) but who seemed to become more sure of herself as the story progressed. As I expected full of ageist stereotypes throughout but of course through the experiences on the coach trip the ‘in group’ (Mel and Emma in their late twenties!) and the ‘out group’ (the older people passengers) learnt to understand, and even like each other. A little predictable but some emotional moments, for example when one passenger revealed his dementia diagnosis. A small point but needs some editing to correct the referral to hyperthermia when a passenger is nearly left behind without accommodation - surely this should be hypothermia?
I’m afraid that as an older reader, I couldn’t get passed the ageism and the negative portrayal of the older passengers even though this was moderated a little towards the end of the story.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read an e-version of the book.

Now, this book was something else, it started off as a coach trip with a predictable outcome but as they all got to know one another the dynamic changed and it was all fabulous!

My favourite part about this entire book was the "He did Business at Keele" line, I literally screamed out "I went to Keele!" Which if you knew how small Keele is, the fact a book mentions it is pretty astounding.
Anyway.
This book was halting? Jerky? Awkward? The writing style comes off as having been written by a first time writer on their second draft, which isn't the case for Izzy, she has written many books under a pseudonym. " I checked the clock on the screen 35.16. We had just over half an hour" sooo repetitive. So many paragraphs about how Keith maybe isn't as much of a jerk as they think but then they don't really give him another chance for a hundred more pages even though Emma keeps thinking she needs to.
But honestly, Emma and Mel were awful. So entitled and bratty through most of this book. Mel especially was a complete bitch until they reached the last stop on the trip. The fact that Emma kept saying "I want to be more like Mel" was upsetting. And finally Emma goes on this trip to spend time with her grandmother and she barely spends time with her at all. Her grandma is the least involved character in the novel.

The overall moral of the story? Gasp! Old people are people who have lived lives?? I am shook who could have known it!

I will say though the different stops along the way were a lot of fun as I have taken several trips to many of these places. The Holy Island is top of my list next time I make it across the pond and I would love to go back to Durham.

Oh! I forgot....you want me to believe that 2 girls in their 20s don't know that numbers on phones are also correlated with letters? Did they not text at all before smart phones and blackberries?

Overall was it a cute story? Yes.
Was I pulled out of the enjoyment because the main character was a bint? Yes.

What a lovely sweet book this was to read. Great characters and a storyline that has you initially thinking the same as the main 2 characters but like them, totally has you changing your attitude the more you read on! A great book for sitting in the sun on a summer’s day.

This was cute, if a bit predictable. I liked the growth in the characters over time. I liked how it felt like I was travelling. Some of the generational frustrations felt a little overdone/ stereotypical but that might just be because I'm older than the protagonist and younger than the older characters on the bus. But there were plenty of heartwarming moments that I really enjoyed.

My biggest struggle with this book is that it REALLY REALLY built up a romantic relationship that felt like it had limited payoff. From the set up in the text I was waiting for *a moment* where the protagonist and the tour guide got together/ kissed. But there wasn't that moment. That left me feeling unsatisfied at the end. I know that the story was more about the friendships than the romance and while I'm totally fine with that, there was just a lot of build up on the romance side that didn't go anywhere. It knocked some points of an otherwise sweet story.

Classic forgetful Emma—she’s done it again, this time accidentally ruining a Valentine’s Day surprise for her best friend Mel. Desperate to make up for it, she promises Mel a birthday trip to Edinburgh—a girls’ weekend to end all girls’ weekends. There’s just one massive hitch…

Emma has already promised her grandma that she’ll go on a coach trip with her to scatter her grandad’s ashes…In Edinburgh. On Mel’s birthday weekend. Oh God.

That’s right, with one innocent but inevitable diary clash, two very different road trips are thrust together. Surrounded by a bunch of septuagenarians who seem to have forgotten how to have fun, can Emma support Grandma through her grief and give Mel a birthday to remember? Or is their friendship doomed to become roadkill? She’s about to find out…

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Great relationship between the characters. Will recommend to others.

I loved every single minute of this- read it in a day and wanted to be on that coach!
The characters, from Mel and Emma, still young enough to be loud and lairy, to Arthur (who I fell in love with) and the other "grey tops" the personalities were beautiful, the deeper backstories revealed in a perfect way and the overall ragtag-ness of the group coming together almost written for screen.

This was a really lovely book. Great cast of characters and you really felt like you are there with them. Recommended.

I really enjoyed this book. It was predictable but heart warming. I loved all of the characters in the coach and how they bonded together. I also like the way the epilogue was done. Felt more cohesive than just a summing up.
Really enjoyable summer read

Emma is a little disorganised. She tries to make things up to her flatmate by planning to take her to Edinburgh for her birthday. Unfortunately, for Emma, she also agrees to go on a coach trip with her grandmother at the same time, double booking herself. Mel decides that she’ll join Emma and her grandmother on the coach trip, it’ll be fun, what could go wrong?
I loved the book, I laughed, I cried. I was totally engrossed in it. The descriptions of the places visited were well written and having been to many I could imagine myself there.
It was just fun with a few lessons learnt on the way.

I wasn’t too sure about this book with it being quite a different genre for me.
However once I started it I fell in love with it. It’s a warm a gentle story of learning and understanding between the generations.
A relaxing and joyous read.
Thank you Netgalley.

This is such a fun read. I loved every page and couldn’t put it down. Often funny and sad at times reading the story of how young people can spend time with OAP’s with surprising consequences.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

🌟🌟🌟✨ (3.5) The Coach Trip by Izzy Bromley

“We make so many assumptions about old people. I assume they don’t return my smile in the street because they think young people don’t deserve common courtesy. It never occurred to me that they might be too lost in their own thoughts to smile, just like I am sometimes”

Emma screws up her best friend Mel’s Valentine’s Day when she forgets to give her the note from her boyfriend. The note tells Mel to meet him at the train station where he is waiting with a dozen red roses and a romantic meal planned.

In her order to make it up to her, Emma promises her a weekend in Edinburg for her birthday. But then double books herself by promising her Grandma she will accompany her on a coach trip, also to Edinburg, to scatter her Grandads ashes. So as not to disappoint Mel again she sells the coach trip to her and they all head off together.

However, Mel gets a shock when she realises there are no hot backpackers on this trip. Can Emma convince her that there is lots of fun to be had on a coach trip where no one is younger than 70?

This is a warm-hearted novel that centres around the perception young and old people have of each other e.g. youth is wasted on the young and old people are so grumpy. When they all get to know each other they discover there is much more dept than they realised. Hardships are exposed that have had a huge effect on their lives but beneath all their sadness, grief or loneliness there are human beings that are funny, intelligent, and kind with quite interesting stories to tell.

I wasn't blown away by this story by any means. It was very character driven rather than plot driven and although I did like the characters, none impacted me that much that I was left remembering them.

This was a great holiday read. I’ve never considered a coach trip but this one certainly made you think and how we all judge people without always getting to know who they are. And both the young and old can discount the other before getting to understand what they are going through and dealing with.
A lovely read.

Two late twenties females join a coach trip full of the older generation. Stereotypes are in play with generalisations on both sides.
As the trip makes it way round the historic towns back stories are unearthed
. Leading to common ground and friendships.
An enjoyable story that shows everyone is dealing with something that does not show on the surface

I really enjoyed this read about a couple of younger women who end up on a coach trip, typically for the more mature holidaymaker.
Emma wants to give her best friend, Mel, a birthday to remember, but double books herself when she promises to go with her grandmother on a coach trip, originally booked as an anniversary present for her husband. Sadly, Grandad passed away before the trip, but Emma wants to make her grandma happy.
Emma and Mel end up on this coach trip with many preconceived ideas about older people, and it is a pleasure to see how these misconceptions are sh=mashed as the week-long trip progresses.
Getting old isn't fun in many ways. It is often hard for the younger generation to sympathise with that old lady who takes so long to walk or the man who is holding up the supermarket checkout line...
This is a book that makes you rethink your ideas, and it definitely reinforced my already strong respect for the elderly.
And... Mel did have a great birthday too!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC.

A great read.
Emma and Mel (not Carmel) have an interesting friendship and its Emma's forgetfulness that leads this story.

A good mix of old/young aged perceptions, some sensitive subject matters delicately and well handled. Uplifting and sweet read.